Refrigerating apparatus



'July 7, 1936. c. F. HE NNEY 2,046,744

'REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed May 27, 1932 1 a mill =45 Patented July 7, v 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Application May 27, 1932, Serial No. 613,948 2 Claims. (Cl. 189-55) This invention relates in a general way to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to means for preventing heat from entering a railway passenger car through the windows. The

5 invention also may be applied to a window of a building. 1 It is common knowledge that railway passenger cars become almost unbearably hot during the summer months. It has been determined that fully 50% of the heat enters through the windows.

Consequently it is one of the objects of my invention to reduce the amount of heat entering the car through the windows.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide heat reflecting awnings for preventing the heat rays and particularly the rays of the sun from reaching the window.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a railway passenger car embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section along the line 22 of Fig 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged portion of Fig. 2, and

proved window shades provided for the car.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown for the purpose of illustrating my invention, a railway car 20 having a 35 passenger compartment 2| and an air conditioning compartment 22 at one end of the car.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, I provide a shield or awning 23 for each of the windows. The awning 23, for example, is provided within the window frame adjacent the upper portion of the window so as to reflect the heat'waves and to prevent them from reaching the upper portion of the window. As better shown in Fig. 3, this awning is constructed of a pair of outer metal sheets-24 and 25, preferably of zinc or aluminum, supported upon a rectangular wooden framework 26 which is fastened by means of screws 21 to the upper portion of the window sash. Between the metal sheets 24 and 25 there is provided a sheet of bright aluminum or zinc foil 28 which is held by a suitable adhesive between the separate wooden frames 36 and 31 which make up the rectangular wooden framework 26. The rectangular wooden framework Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of one of the im foil 28 enclose a plurality of dead air spaces 29 and 30. Instead of providing dead air spaces, the spaces between the sheets may be ventilated. The bottom of the awning 23 is substantially on the line or slightly above the eyes of a normal passenger so that the view of the passenger is not obstructed. It has been found that. sheets of bright aluminum or zinc foil reflect about 94% of heat rays striking them and by reason of this the awning 23 reflects the heat waves and prevents them from reaching the window or entering the car. Inasmuch as the sun, particularly during the middle portion of the day is at a rather high angle, only a very small portion of the suns rays will strike the window proper and enter the car. If desired, the awning may be placed at an angle to the window to shut off more effectively the rays of the sun.

In order to provide a more complete protection against the sun's rays and the heat rays, in addition to the heat reflecting awnings, I provide window shades 33 for the windows of the car which are provided with surfaces of bright aluminum or zinc foil 34. These surfaces may be provided by attaching thin sheets of bright aluminum or zinc foil to an ordinary spring roller type curtain by means of a suitable adhesive such as rubber cement or asphalt. .In this way, when the window shade is pulled down, the heat rays which pass through the window are reflected by the bright metallic surfaces of the window shade, thus preventing substantially all of the heat from entering the car through the window.

In order to further keep the interior of the car cool, I provide an air conditioning apparatus in the compartment 22 comprising a compressor 40 for compressing the refrigerant and for forwarding the compressed refrigerant to the condenser 4| where it is condensed and collected in the receiver 42. From the receiver 42 liquid refrigerant is forwarded through a supply conduit 43 to an automatic expansion valve 44 which controls the flow of refrigerant to a finned evaporator 45 where the refrigerant vaporizes and is returned to the compressor through the return conduit 46. The compressor 40 is driven by the electric motor 41 through suitable pulley and belt means. The electric 'motor and the compressor are provided with fan'means 48 for circulating air over the condenser. The air which is warmed by the sondenser is discharged outside of the car to prevent it from reaching the interior of the passenger compartment. The electric motor 41 is supplied with electric energy from either the lighting batteries or a generator placed either on the car or on the locomotive. Air is drawn from the Dassenger compartment 2| by a motor-driven fan 50 which discharges air over the surfaces of the evaporator 45 and back into the passenger compartment 2 I.

Although it would be possible to maintain the car cool by means of the air conditioning apparatus alone without the awning and window shade described above, the size of the air conditioning apparatus necessary when the awnings and the window shades, as described above are provided, is much reduced. It should be understood that the awnings or the window shades may be used alone, if desired, and while they are very effective in their use as applied to a railway passenger car, the invention is not restricted to such an application but is capable of being used in various other places such as windows of buildings and automobiles. The use of the improved awnings and window shades is furthermore not-restricted to the use with the air conditioning apparatus, but is equally advantageous when used in a passenger car not so provided.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

spaced apart relation and for insulating one from 10 the other, said means enclosing the space between the sheets to prevent conduction of heat into said chamber or compartment through the window.

2. In combination, a chamber or compartment having walls adapted to be exposed to the rays 10 of the sun, a window in a wall of said chamber, an awning for said window, said awning comprising a plurality of sheets of bright aluminum for reflecting the suns rays from at least a portion of said window, and means disposed between the 20 sheets for supporting said sheets in spaced apart relation and for insulating one from the other, said means enclosing the space between the sheets to prevent conduction of heat into said chamber or compartment through the window. 25

CHARLES F. HENNEY. 

